2005 SE 4x4 186K miles.
so i took my pathy for a routine oil change only to learn that my rear springs are busted. of course i took it to the youtube to get a clearer picture as to what exactly his may entail, and in the process came to a realization that i may as well change my rear shocks as well. i then combed through this site and decided to go with Bilstein 4600 (part # 24197434) for shocks and Moog 81119 for the springs. i am not looking for anything over-the-top, but something that is best bang for the buck. Moog springs are $62 for the pair, which, btw, is less than half of what nissan dealer is charging for OEM pair. Biltein shocks are ~$150 for the pair. i am not handy in any way, but a number of money-saving fixes in the recent past have me emboldened in performing more and more fixes on my own rather than paying someone else. so as one can imagine, i have a number of questions:
1) how good are the parts and the prices listed above? are there better bang-for-the-buck parts and/or deals?
2) do i need to purchase additional parts to accommodate the parts listed above? spring seats, bushings, etc?
3) would i need to compress springs prior to installation?
4) are torque numbers specific to each individual part or to the car?
5) should i use loctite on any of the screws?
6) would i need to perform wheel alignment afterwards?
thank you for your time!